By ALEX GIMARC
This is an update on the Renewable Energy Alaska Project (REAP) attempt to access individual energy use data for Chugach Electric Association and Enstar Natural Gas Co. customers.
REAP’s excuse for making the request was to “assist” both Chugach and Enstar by constructing new rate structures to “encourage” an unwilling and uninterested public to transition to renewable energy. Must Read Alaska ran a story from the Washington Free Beacon on this Feb 29.
REAP made their request to the Regulatory Commission of Alaska Dec. 18, 2023 and Jan. 29, 2024. The filing was in response to a pair of ongoing tariff revision dockets (cases) before the RCA (U-23-047 and U-23-048) initially filed July 3, 2023.
The RCA slapped down REAP’s request on Feb 26, 2024, denying their motion to compel Chugach and Enstar to provide customer data. The rate case continues before the RCA. Both orders are embedded in this piece.
This has been quite a rate case. All Railbelt electrical co-ops are involved, as is Enstar. The State of Alaska Department of Law and the feds are involved. Other entities include UAA, AARP Alaska, Ethan Schutt (CIRI?), JL Properties, and at least two renewable energy non-governmental organizations.
This takes us to a discussion about conflict of interest. Rate cases are expensive, costing the utilities tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars to pursue / defend. Any other entity entering the fray costs the utility, and in turn the utility customers, more money. REAP’s participation cost someone, perhaps many someones an unspecified amount of additional time and money.
If you look at their website, REAP owns at least one Chugach Board member, Jim Nordlund, who is also on REAP’s Board of Directors. I was told Nordlund resigned as REAP Chairman sometime in mid-February. REAP lists Nordlund as an individual at-large constituency member and ex-officio member of the executive committee.
It could be worse, I suppose, as REAP lists Matanuska Electric Association, Alaska Village Electric Cooperative and Kotzebue Electric Association as Board members under “Utility Constituency.”
The immediate question that comes to mind is: When did Nordlund know REAP was going to intervene in the ongoing rate case? How far before Dec. 28, 2023, did he know about it? Most importantly, when did he tell his fellow Chugach Board members that an organization in which he held a leadership position was going to intervene in the ongoing rate case and demand private customer information?
I asked the Chugach Board these questions via e-mail on Feb. 29. Have not heard back from them as yet. Somehow don’t think I will.
How will the Chugach Board handle this and future conflicts of interest? What do they plan to do the next time an outside group asks for customer data they are not entitled to? Better yet, why did the Board fail to notify Chugach members (customers) REAP made this attempt?
Given the active involvement of REAP in recent Chugach Board elections (they endorsed three candidates last year), it is only a matter of time before they hold a majority on the Board.
Once they do so, they control the Chugach Electric Association, as the Board hires and fires the CEO. Next time around, Chugach may not be so reluctant to provide private information to a group of committed greens for their political purposes.
Maybe it is time for the governor and Legislature to consider shutting this little game down before they do some real damage to reliable energy in the Railbelt.
Alex Gimarc lives in Anchorage since retiring from the military in 1997. His interests include science and technology, environment, energy, economics, military affairs, fishing and disabilities policies. His weekly column “Interesting Items” is a summary of news stories with substantive Alaska-themed topics. He was a small business owner and Information Technology professional.
REAP has infiltrated the governor’s office, the bureaucracies, MEA’s policies, burrough and city assemblies, and the legislature as well. They’re like a bad, hyper infective rash.
REAP are ECO-MARXISTS
Simple and accurate. Well put!
The word is spelled “RAPE”.
Radical Anti-Progress Extremists.
Anyone involved in both organizations should have to resign from both organizations…not just one. Nordlund may have resigned from REAP, but there is no gaurantee that his influence is now gone.
What Alex does not say is that in some cases, admittedly few but there is always hope, that the entrance of an interested third party might actually SAVE the rate payers money by causing the RCA to set a lower rate than the utility asked for in their filing. In this case the interested third party is most certainly not worried about the rate payers paying higher rates and in fact is encouraging just that but, even so, it is worth the risk to maintain the right of the general public to weigh in at RCA Hearings.
Didn’t realize AVEC was part of reap. We just received a 14.5 percent increase on our bill this month for all things except for the kilowatt.
I am late to comment, but I’ll be brief. We Alaskans must not foolishly succumb to the lure of pure, fluffy-soft, and rose-smelling ‘renewable energy’ if China-made solar panels, China-made wind turbines, and/or any storage batteries from whatever source are involved. China is a horrible polluting tyranny. Period, hard stop.
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